1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to bicycle pedals that contain internal lights. More particularly, the present invention is related to bicycle pedals that contain flashing lights for improved visibility of the bicycle by motorists.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because a child on a bicycle is small, fast and typically does not obey the rules of the road, such a child is difficult to see by a driver of a motor vehicle. This is especially true in twilight or at night when lighting is poor. To help increase the visibility of bicycles, many bicycles are now sold with reflectors. The reflectors are typically located on the wheels of the bicycle and on the pedals of the bicycle.
In order for a reflector to be visible, it must reflect light. Accordingly, bicycle reflectors are most effective when a bicycle is located in front of the headlights of an automobile and there is a bright light to reflect. However, such bicycle reflectors are not nearly as noticeable if the bicycle is located to the side of the automobile and out of the direct line of the beams of the headlights.
To help improve the visibility of bicycles, bicycles have been built with safety lights. Safety lights are self illuminating. Accordingly, safety lights do not rely upon the reflection of headlights and the safety lights can be seen at any angle of approach to the bicycle. In the prior art record, there are many different types of safety lights for bicycles. Safety light assemblies have been designed for the seat, handle bars, and wheels of bicycles. Another popular place to place safety lights for a bicycle is in or on the pedals of the bicycle. Since the pedals of a bicycle move as the bicycle is ridden, the lights in the pedals also move, thereby becoming even more noticeable to passing motorists. Therefore, by placing lights in the pedals of the bicycle, the light becomes a more effective safety device.
The original pedal assemblies that contained safety lights used batteries and incandescent bulbs. Such prior art pedal devices are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,732,540 to MacMahon, entitled, Bicycle Lights. The problem with such lights is that the incandescent bulbs require a good amount of power. Accordingly, the batteries did not last very long.
To address the problems of battery life, pedal assemblies were designed with internal power generators so that batteries would not have to be used. Such prior art patents are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,391 to MacMahon, entitled, Signaling Devices. A problem associated with self generating illuminated pedals is that the lights go dark when a person coasts on the bicycle.
As technology improved, the problems of short battery life and self power generating pedal assemblies were solved by the development of bright, low power light emitting diodes (LEDs). By placing LEDs in a pedal, even a small battery could keep the LEDs lit for dozens of hours. To further improve the effectiveness of the LEDs being viewed by motorists, the LEDs were designed to flash when in operation. The flashing LEDs are more noticeable than steadily lit LEDs. Such prior art pedal assemblies are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,976 to MacMahon, entitled Pedal Mounted Signal Light, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,172 to Kilburn, entitled Light Emitting Bicycle Pedal.
Although LEDs use less power than do incandescent bulbs, LEDs still consume electrical power. Additionally, in general, the brighter the LED is, the more electrical power that LED consumes. In prior art pedal assemblies that use batteries and LEDs, the LEDs do not constantly flash. Rather, the pedal assemblies come with on/off switches so that the LEDs can be selectively activated. In this manner, the LEDs do not run the battery down when the bicycle is being stored in the garage or is otherwise not being ridden.
Children often forget to turn things on and off. Accordingly, a child often forgets to turn on the lights of their pedal assemblies when they ride their bicycles. similarly, even if a child were to turn the pedal lights on, that child may forget to turn the pedal lights off when they leave the bicycle. Accordingly, the LEDs may flash in a storage shed until the batteries become dead. In either case, the illuminated pedal assemblies fail to work and provide the safety at night that is intended.
A need therefore exists in the art for a pedal assembly that contains batteries and LEDs to illuminate the pedal assembly, however the lights automatically activate when the bicycle is in use and deactivate when the bicycle is not in use. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.